12.30.2005

If you read Tiny D's blog, you'll have seen the cruise highway that Martin's Dad built...Gabby enjoyed showing Martin the crusin' ropes, and here Martin's showing Gabby his skills!

Another Austin highlight was hanging out with Zach (Wee Z's Blog), his push-toys, and his kitty, Bitsy. Gabby got her first tries with push-toys while Zach was napping, and she took a few steps, and seemed to get a kick out of it.

Zach's family has three kitties, and they’re all used to baby attention, but Bitsy was the most amazing. She let Gabby pet her, and also pull her tail, ears, and fur, without so much as a meow. Gabby loved chasing her around!

"I've never been so close to a kitty for so long before!"

"Oh my goodness...she'll even let me touch her!"

We make eye contact, as Zach looks on.

Eventually Bitsy gets tired of all the attention.

While in Austin, we also visited with Carolyn and her parents. Their dog, Libby, was as big a hit as Bitsy. Libby is an extremely patient golden retriever, who also let Gabby pull her fur, and whatever else she could reach, as Mommy tried to teach Gabby the definition of “gentle.”

Carolyn gives Gabby a kiss good-bye.

Gabby also spent some time with some other wonderful Austin dogs, Abita (Tiny D’s dog) and Cactus (Cool Hand Luke’s dog).

On our last Saturday, we had a little holiday gathering. Here the dads show off their "prides and joys." Our friend Brion stands in as "guest Daddy" while Joe takes some pictures. (Evidently, Martin had such a big dinner, as is evidenced by the leftovers on his face, that he busted right out of his pants)!!!

Lou and Luke, Arthur and Martin, and Brion and Gabby

Our final Austin photo shoot is of our Little Longhorns in their matching Texas outfits. Check out how happy they are to be all dressed up in burnt orange! Hook 'em!

Gabby waves at the camera while Martin is all smiles.

Then Gabby is the smiley one.

And lastly, Abita joins in on the Longhorn fun!

Now that Auntie Sara, Uncle Shaun, and Uncle Jay all live in Austin, we were able to spend some quality time with them, while we were in town as well. Gabby also enjoyed seeing their cats, Mercution and Bunny! This Austin trip was just one big pet extravaganza!

The culmination of our trip to Austin included Continental Airlines losing Gabby’s gate-checked car-seat. It’s a long story, but eventually they found it and delivered it to our home, but only after some drama and some time with a lousy loaner seat.

In all, it was a wonderful trip, and it was so great to see all our friends and family, but after 10 days away, there's no place like Home Sweet Home!

12.26.2005

From December 10th – 19th we vacationed in Mommy and Daddy’s old stompin’ grounds in Austin, Texas! We were scheduled to fly down on the 9th, but Mother Nature had other plans, as she blanketed Boston in 6 inches of snow in one stormy hour that afternoon. Our flight was cancelled, so we headed out the next morning instead.

In Austin, "Tiny D." (a.k.a. Martin - Tiny D's Blog) was gracious enough to offer Gabby his pack-n-play, and we all crashed in his parents’ spare room for the week. Gabby loved playing with all the new toys at Martin’s house and was occasionally amused by Martin himself. We were all impressed with Martin’s amazing appetite and excellent eating skills, as Gabby merely grazed on the occasional Cheerio and a bite of cereal here and there.

Back in Austin, we all got to meet "Cool Hand Luke" (Luke's Blog) for the first time! He’s such a big boy already, and such a cutie! Gabby’s looking forward to her next visit to Austin, when he’ll be able to play with her a bit more.

On Sunday we went to Nutty Brown Cafe where people travelled from as far and wide and North and South Austin and even from way out in Commerce, TX, to say "Howdy" to little G on her Texas Tour #2.

While in Texas, we made a trip to Dallas and Gabby was able to meet her friends Cleo and Barrett, and also saw her friend Elise again. Gabby loved following 2 ½ year old Cleo around…she apparently, can’t wait to be a big girl like Cleo. While in Dallas, Gabby tried out Cleo’s slide in the backyard, and after a few slides in Daddy’s arms, Gabby was leaning forward to slide down all on her own! In the same afternoon, Gabby also climbed her first stairs, up to the deck at Cleo and Barrett’s house.

Gabby loved the slide!

It was so nice to play outside in Dallas, given that we left a snowy mess in Boston!

We all spent Thanksgiving weekend at Babci and Papa’s house. Auntie Sara and Uncle Shaun surprised us by flying up from Austin and Gabby enjoyed spending some quality time with them, as well as with Auntie Marta, Devin, and Uncle Jay, (who had just returned from his European sailing adventure). Gabby’s Bobie joined us for Thanksgiving dinner, and Gabby sampled some Thanksgiving delicacies but wasn’t terribly excited by the food. Her two grandmothers unanimously decided (against Mommy and Daddy’s better judgment) that Gabby’s first Thanksgiving would not be complete without her being allowed to chomp on a turkey bone. She seemed to enjoy it!

Gabby’s favorite part of Thankgiving weekend was visiting with Thursday, the cat. Gabby loved chasing after her, and she really perfected her super-fast crawling skills while in pursuit of her. We thought she might have even said her first word, “kitty,” but since it hasn’t been repeated much, we’re now doubtful, and are waiting for her next official “first word.” We’ll keep you posted.

The day after Thanksgiving, we went to Alex's house to hang out with Alex and William (and their parents, of course).

Left to right: Alex, Gabby, and William.

That weekend we also had a family get-together at Babci and Papa's house to kick off the Christmas season.Over Thanksgiving, Gabby loved having lots of room to crawl around, so once we returned home after Thanksgiving, Mommy and Daddy did another round of babyproofing, to give her free (and safe) roaming rights to most of the house. Since doing that, Gabby’s been working on perfecting her cruising abilities, and at one point, in the absence of a push-toy, Gabby walked across the house while pushing a laundry basket!

Come back to our blog soon to see more posts from our trip to Austin, Christmas, and Hanukkah!!! They're coming soon...we promise!

Gabriella Rose was born on January 23, 2005.
Eleanor Jane was born on March 1, 2007.
Margaret Pearl Cohen and Benjamin Winiker Cohen were born on June 20, 2009.
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